![]() When in 1566 the war against the king of Spain broke out, catholics and protestants were still united in their goal of greater autonomy. However, starting with the capture of Brielle by protestant pirates in 1572 and the torturing and murdering of 19 monks and priests in that town, the martyrs of Gorcum, the war more and more became a religious one. In 1579 the Union of Utrecht was signed, an alliance between the northern provinces. This treaty was supported by catholics, even though it ratified the prohibition of catholicism in Holland and Zeeland and guaranteed the catholic church a secondary position in the other provinces only. In 1580 count Rennenberg, the catholic stadtholder of Friesland, Groningen, Overijssel and Drenthe, disgusted by the cruelty of the protestants, returned to the Spanish side. This gave the protestants an excuse to outlaw catholicism wherever they seized power. Churches were handed over to the often small protestant minorities, while others were simply closed or given a profane use. Since catholics were excluded from important public functions, many rich catholics became protestants in order to keep their jobs and maintain their social status. Only few people became protestant for theological reasons. Other catholics fled to the south, to areas still in Spanish hands. Ultimately, a minority of mostly poor catholics managed to survive the oppression in the Republic. In the occupied territories in the south protestantism was almost completely rejected. Attempts to settle protestants in these territories also failed. The famous Dutch tolerance of this time meant little more than that nobody was persecuted for his faith as long as he did not openly exercise it. The catholic mass, processions and pilgrimages were forbidden, and anybody found guilty of active catholicism was prosecuted and had to deal with severe punishments. The northern provinces all managed to break free from Spain relatively early in the long war. For much of the time fighting was restricted to the southern provinces. When in 1648 the Peace-treaty of Munster was signed, about half of the total population of the Republic was still catholic. |
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During the Twelve Years Siege (1609-1621) some churches could be repaired. The church of Waalwijk (NB), which was built right at the border of Holland (Republic) and Brabant (Spain), was rebuilt as a symbol of catholic status. Only the part on Brabant soil could be rebuilt though, as protestant Holland refused its cooperation. The church only remained catholic for a few more decades; in 1648 it was confiscated and turned over to the protestants, but the new owners did not finish te church either. |
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Policies could differ,
however. In some conquered areas of the current province of Limburg
catholicism wasn't banned at all. In Maastricht, where the Republic was
forced to respect the rights of the prince-bishop of Liège, the four
parish churches were equally divided between protestants and catholics. The picture shows the protestant St.
Jan, with next to to it the St.
Servaas, which wasn't a parish church and therefore remained
in catholic hands anyway. |
The catholic response to the Reformation was the counter-reformation. Besides fighting its opponents, the catholic church finally tried to do something about the abuses in the church that had helped cause the rise of protestantism in the first place. Counter-reformation brought along a new style, Baroque, which in the Netherlands didn't get much of a chance. |
The current province of Limburg is an exception to this rule. Much of this province remained under German or Spanish rule, which resulted in the construction of several Baroque churches, especially as part of a monastery, such as the St. Michiel in Sittard. Other Baroque churches were built in Maastricht, Houthem and Eys. While the churches in Sittard and Maastricht represent the Southern Netherlands (read: 'Belgian') Baroque style, the churches in Houthem and Eys are examples of the more moderate German Baroque. Of all these, the church of Eys is the only one that was built for a parish instead of a monastery or convent. |
The only Baroque church outside Limburg is found in Ravenstein, the former capital of the Land van Ravenstein, which covered an area in the east of the current province of Noord-Brabant. After a period of protestant occupation it got a new catholic master 1630. In this area many religious orders founded new monasteries and convents, while churches and chapels attracted pilgrims from the Republic. In the town of Ravenstein in 1735 the Baroque parish church of St. Lucia was built. |
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Because it was located in the free Land van Ravenstein, in the village of Deursen this small octagonal chapel, named H.H. Antonius en Rochuskapel could be built in 1745-1747. It attracted many pilgrims from outside the region. |
In 1794 revolutionary French troops invaded the Republic and the free enclaves. Although religious freedom was restored quickly, the autonomy of the enclaves was ended. A new state was founded, the Batavian Republic. |
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